A war with the shadows
by cuddles1234XD
Summary: Skippers brother Sam has spent years planning. He sends Skipper and the gus into a game. a game he'smade from sratch. Skipper will pay for what he's done. And revenge will be oh so bitter sweet. Let the game begin.
1. Chapter 1

_**Yeah okay. This is sort of a cross over but not enough to actually call it so. It's a TPOM fic, but it will hopefully reek of star wars. Hopefully being the key word there. I guess the first chapter should be interesting. I warn though the real setting will probably not appear until chapter three. And the star wars in chapter four at the latest. **_

_**Now for my famous last words.**_

_**Enjoy! **_

"Skipper is the really necessary?" Kowalski asked fearfully. He was hanging over a pit of sharks at the New York Aquarium.

Skipper was angry at Kowalski for blowing him into a leopard seal exhibit at the Coney Island zoo. His back was full of scratches and still hurt from the teeth of one. He was almost eaten by that one. His foot still stung from the bite of another one. He couldn't cool himself off. He had tied Kowalski up and hung him over a shark pool. At least he wasn't in the pool. Skipper barely escaped with his life. He did feel a little bad though. Kowalski didn't mean to shoot him into the leopard seal pit. And he did look awfully petrified as the sharks jumped up at him, missing by less than and inch.

One of them hit the tip of Kowalski's beak. "I'm sorry Skipper! I-I-I didn't mean for it to blow up! It just did! Please!" He pleaded as another one hit his beak as well. He had been petrified the moment Skipper hastily jumped out of the seal tank. And the sharks were getting awfully close to eating him for dinner. That was a scary thought. Plus, he really did feel bad for where Skipper landed. But it wasn't intentional.

Skipper sighed. He really didn't need to go that hard on Kowalski. A shark tank was equally as dangerous as a leopard seal's tank. He pulled Kowalski back to the ground and untied him. "Don't do it again." He warned.

"You have my word." Kowalski said relieved to be on the safe ground.

"Thanks guys." Skipper said to the sharks.

"Wait what?" Private asked confused. Why did Skipper thank the sharks?

"No problem kid." One of them replied.

Skipper smiled at Kowalski. "They're vegetarians." He explained. He just wanted to scare Kowalski.

"What?" Kowalski shouted feeling very stupid. Well it wasn't really a stupid thing to be afraid. Sharks were supposed to be carnivores. Not vegetarians.

"Kowalski, humans may not be all too smart, but do you really think they would put man eating carnivores in a petting zoo area with an open tank?" Skipper asked. It was a no brainier really.

"But how-" Kowalski started.

"Before the three of you got here I got out of the tank asked the sharks to help out with something and jumped back in." Skipper explained.

"Why did you jump back into the Leopard seal tank?" Private asked confused. Didn't Skipper have a natural fear of Leopard seals?

"They're vegetarians too." He explained.

Kowalski was confused. Carnivores were met eaters. That was nature's picture of Sharks and leopard seals. They were carnivores. They weren't supposed to eat vegetables and fruits and things like that.

The sharks and the leopard seals began to laugh.

"But then how did you get the scratches?" Private asked confused.

"We did it." One of the leopard seals replied.

"Involuntarily" another one laughed.

"Of course we saw a small hint of fear and decided to make it realistic. We had no intention of eat'n ya." Yet another one said.

"Told him when he jumped back in. sorry for the scratches mate." One of them apologized.

Kowalski glared at Skipper. He had been played. Fearfully.

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Come one Kowalski. You knew I would do something. Be glad they were vegetarians." Skipper said. "Let's go." They walked back to the Zoo.

"I can't believe you did that." Kowalski stated in disbelief. Skipper was more of a real punishment punisher. He didn't play games.

"What? It taught a lesson didn't it?" Skipper replied. It did teach a lesson. And Kowalski got a well disserved scare.

Kowalski grumbles to himself. He was still a little angry at Skipper making him feel like a fool.

"Hey guys." Marlene said happily, scurrying up to them.

"Marlene." Skipper replied. He was a little surprised to see her. Only a little. She usually approaches them when they return to the zoo.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing." Kowalski grumbled. Still unhappy.

Marlene gave him a confused look.

"Don't mind him." Skipper said. Kowalski had to get over it. "He'll get over it"

"Ok." Marlene replied slowly. "What happened this time?"

Kowalski walked away.

"Skipper gave him a bit of a scare for sending him into the seal pit. No big deal really. They were vegetarians." Private informed.

"Vegetarians?" Marlene asked confused. Seals were supposed to be meat eaters.

"Don't worry about it." Skipper replied.

They walked towards the habitat.

"Whoa whoa. Wait a minute." Marlene interrupted stepping in front of them. "Who were vegetarians?"

Skipper sighed. "The leopard seals." He said.

Private elbowed him.

"And the sharks."

"Sharks?" Marlene replied confused. She wasn't surprised though. Weird, confusing things tend to happen around the guys. They were an… interesting bunch.

"Yes sharks."

"Let me take a guess at something here. He, Kowalski, made you fly into a leopard seal pit correct?"

Skipper nodded.

"So you threw him into a shark tank to-"

"I hung him over a shark tank." Skipper corrected.

"Oh. Then why is he so mad?" Marlene asked. Kowalski usually let things like this go. Not completely. But he never seemed this…annoyed.

They shrugged.

"I don't know Marlene." Skipper replied. He looked over at the habitat. "But I intend to find out." He jumped over the fence and slid under the fish bowl.

Rico followed.

"Bye Marlene." Private said waving. Then he joined the others inside the HQ.

"Kowalski, let it go." Skipper commanded. He was taking it too seriously. It was time to get over it.

"Why?" Kowalski snapped. He hated when Skipper did things like that. it was unnecessary.

"Because, weather they were vegetarians or not you would've been hung there. Because it's over and done. Let it go." Skipper replied.

"No. I can hold onto it as long as I want." Kowalski argued.

"He only hung you over them Kowalski. You blew him into the seal tank. If they weren't vegetarians he wouldn't be standing here." Private explained, hoping to calm Kowalski down. Kowalski didn't usually get so angry. He had to say though, Skipper usually was angrier.

Kowalski thought for a moment. Private was right. But he didn't think about that. "They could've killed me if they were carnivores." He stated, annoyed.

"Yup, but see if they were all carnivores, you wouldn't have been hung over the sharks because I would be a leopard seals dinner!" Skipper said, loudly. He wasn't shouting. But he was getting closer to getting angry

Kowalski didn't say anything.

"You better cool yourself down Kowalski." Skipper warned. He jumped out before Kowalski made him lose his temper.

Kowalski looked down at the floor. He had never done that before. He didn't want to do it again. He would rather let things go. He didn't know why he couldn't let it go though.

Kowalski was about to go apologize, even though Skipper isn't a fan of apologies, But the TV stopped him. It didn't literally grab him. It just turned on.

It showed Blowholes laboratory. His headquarters. But not the deranged dolphin.

Rico went up and got Skipper.

"What does he want?" He asked jumping down into the HQ.

"We don't know Skippah. He's not there." Private replied.

Skipper looked at the screen. It was definitely Blowhole's lair. But where was the dolphin. "Where is he?" Skipper asked confused. Blowhole didn't just turn on their screen and not appear. It wasn't the way he did it. But it also made him a little suspicious. Blowhole could be tricking them.

Blowhole suddenly ran into view. He was on his segway of course, but he looked startled. He was looking around frantically. Like someone was hiding. Someone dangerous. Or like someone was trying to kill him.

"Blowhole?" Skipper asked, cautiously. He couldn't figure out why He was acting so strange.

"Pen-gu-ins?" He replied, surprised. "I have no plan for you. Yet." He said more calmly. He still sounded a little startled. But there was a hint of focus. "I'm not trying to be nice to you Skipper. But I would be watching your back if I were you. Someone's looking for you. Frantically. Dangerously frantic. He's out to kill you." Blowhole warned. He pressed a button and the screen went black.

Skipper believed him. Mostly because Blowhole can't fake that kind of fear. Someone had been in that room with Blowhole. Someone dangerous. And from the dolphins warning, which really did sound like it was also not fake, the dangerous person was looking for him. Dangerously. But he couldn't attach a name, or a face, to this person. Hans wasn't that type of searcher. And Blowhole knew who he was. Besides, Hans didn't scare Blowhole. And it wasn't Blowhole, because he had just given the warning, and was a victim of fear. It couldn't be Maldos. Maldos would've killed Blowhole. It took a few minutes. But Skipper figured it out. It was his brother. Sam. Samuel actually.

Samuel had been kicked out because he abused Skipper. This was when Skipper had still lived in Antarctica. But he had broken into the house a few days later and warned Skipper. He said that it might not happen that day, or the next day, or any time that year. But he would eventually Make him fight for his life. Samuel had gotten the impression that Skipper stole his life. It started as a love thing. But then it was his life. Samuel blamed Skipper for their parents kicking him out.

But how it happened didn't matter anymore. He knew who was coming. And why. Samuel wasn't only looking for him. He was looking for his blood. He wanted Skipper to pay for his mistakes. Skipper didn't do anything. Samuel was blaming him though. He was taking it too far.

"Samuel." Skipper stated. He jumped out of the latch door and looked around. So far nothing. But if he found Blowhole, then it was only a matter of time before he found the zoo.

Kowalski looked at Private and Rico confused. Who was Samuel? And why was he looking for Skipper so violently?

They gave him confused looks back. They didn't have a clue.

Kowalski jumped out and walked over to Skipper. He opened his moth to ask but Skipper interrupted him.

"Samuel is my brother. He was kicked out for, abusing me. Putting me in pain. After that he warned me. He told me I was going to pay." He turned to Kowalski. "If he found Blowhole, then he'll find the zoo."

"Then we have to leave." Kowalski replied. It was the only solution. If they didn't leave then when Samuel found the zoo they would be dead meat.

"No. we can't. If we leave we'd be putting everyone in danger." He looked back towards the zoo clock tower. "Samuel is dangerous."

"How do you know?" Private asked. He and Rico had been listening to the conversation.

"Because I've seen him. I've seen him run from a crime scene. I've seen him run away laughing. He's been planning something. What that is though…I can't tell you. I don't know what it is." Skipper hated not being able to figure Samuel out. He knew why Blowhole did things and what he might be planning. He knew Hans always wanted a fight. Usually. But Samuel… he hadn't had a run in with Samuel. He didn't know what to expect.

Kowalski thought about it for a minute. Samuel was mad at Skipper, because he got kicked out? It seemed like a major over reaction. Why not just let it go? Move on. There was no use in attacking now, years later, for something so childish.

"Skippah. Was he always dangerous?" Private asked.

Skipper remained silent for a minute. Samuel was always dangerous. But He wasn't always outcast dangerous. He could make himself presentable. He could act friendly. He was just easy to anger. But a few months before he was kicked out he got worse. He would lash out for no reason. He harass Skipper. Especially at home. And especially when their parents weren't there. Then, the week before he was kicked out, he became uncontrollable. He was angry. All the time he was angry. And he would attack Skipper whenever he saw him. He would attack their father, too. And their mother. They tried to calm him down. They tried so hard to make his anger go away. But nothing worked. He put Skipper in the hospital that week. And he was kicked out. He was too dangerous. He was hurting his own family. The guards took him out of the town and closed the doors. He was exiled. The short truth was yes. Samuel was always dangerous.

"Yes. He was. But he used to be able to control it. Then he couldn't. So we kicked him out. And for the safety of everyone, the town kicked him out. And he blamed me. He said he could control himself completely before I came along." Skipper explained, watching. Looking out for Samuel.

"Was it true?" Private asked.

"No. He controlled himself perfectly. But his control slowly started to deteriorate. He used to be my brother. Now. Now he's just a monster." Skipper said calmly. He wasn't upset. He did have remorse for Samuel. Samuel was lost. Unfortunately, the only ones who would ever be able to find him were evil minded people. They were the only ones he seemed to listen too. He knew that. He had seen it with his own eyes. And that was also the reason why he was afraid of his brother. He would be able to stand up against his brother. The fear was in not knowing. Samuel was so uncontrolled that anything could happen.

"Have you ever been afraid that you'd turn into him?" Kowalski asked. He would be if Samuel was his brother.

"Me and Samuel are different. We share parents but that is where the similarities end. Like light and a shadow. He sees fun in others distress, he seeks new ways to hurt others, new ways to cause mayhem. Samuel is a killer. Like I said before. Samuel is a monster. He's everything that I'm not."

"Do you know what he's going to do Skippah?" Private asked nervously.

"No. And I don't have any idea what he will do." Skipper looked around again. He had no idea where he was coming from, or when, or how. But Samuel was coming. "But whatever he does. He'll make it last."

"So..?" Kowalski asked. So Samuel wasn't a full blown killer right?

"So he'll either make it torture. Or a long painful death. Long and painful is worse than fast and painless." He paused. "So, you three have to go back inside." He didn't want them to get hurt. He didn't want Samuel to kill them.

"What?" Kowalski asked. "No. we're not going to leave you for him to kill." Kowalski argued. There was no way he was leaving Skipper to face his brother alone.

"Kowalski-"

"He's right Skippah. We're not leaving your side." Private said. He wasn't going to wait inside knowing Skipper was waiting for his death.

"Yup." Rico0 agreed.

He looked back at them.

"We're not." Kowalski said, determined.

Skipper forced a grin. He was glad to have such good friends. But their friendship with him might just kill them. That wasn't a happy thought. But it became a real thought when he saw something in the sky. And it wasn't a bird. His grin dropped as he tried to figure out what it was.

They saw his weary grin turn into a curious, startled look. They turned around and saw what he was looking at. There was something coming towards them. It was coming from the sky. It looked like a flying saucer.

It flew right into the zoo and hovered in front of Skipper.

It hovered there for a few seconds.

No one had time to ask or say anything. It blew up before they could say anything.

_**Boom! That didn't go they way I planned it too. But hopefully it wasn't a train wreck. I wont forget about this story. But I have to work on the other ones before I continue this one. Sorry. (:S**_


	2. Sams preperations

He looked down at Skipper through the metal bars of his brother's cage. Skipper was about to pay. He didn't know why anymore. But it would be fun to watch Skipper run around. Fun to watch him play the game. And his little friends would join him. Scrambling around, pleading for mercy. It would all be so much fun. But they would have to wake up first.

He growled impatiently and left them. He had other things to do. No time to waste on waiting for his pathetic brother to wake up. He would learn so. Skipper would pay for what he's done.

Sam remembered the day. It was a warm August morning, at a bar in Texas. The muskrats were dancing on stage as rats and lizards played their music. The bar was full. Old Genty, a big old tiger who had found refuge from the cops up on the surface, had his hands full taking orders from everyone. He was running around filling cups and trays, handing them to their respected buyers. Everything was going quite well. That's when he arrived. Skipper and his stupid friends. The four of them came in quietly, but Sam recognized Skipper. He watched his brother walk up to Genty from the far corner of the joint. Watching carefully. He hadn't seen Skipper in a while, but he knew. His eyes. It was the eyes. Anyone could have blue eyes. But not like his. Sam had seen a million blue eyes in his life time. But Skipper's eyes, they were deep. He could stare right into your sole with those eyes of his. But you couldn't read him. No, his eyes were deep, but secretive. Sam remembered. Many times Skipper had looked like he was about to blow when they were younger, but he bawled instead. You couldn't read Skipper, but he could read you. He could get the truth out of you with his eyes. That's what he had planned to do to Genty. Get the truth. About what, Sam still didn't know. He walked up to the counter, like any other guy would. Calm, just wanting a drink. But that's not what he intended to do.

Sam didn't know what happened. Skipper talked with Genty, his friends popping in every once in a while with a sentence or two. After a few minutes Genty started to look annoyed. Then he was outraged. Genty took out a gun, Sam never knew Genty had a gun. He shot at Skipper, but missed. He shot again and again. But Skipper was too fast. Sam was about to take Skipper out for Genty, when one of Skipper stupid little buddies pulled out a weapon of his own. He shot a missile at Genty…and hit his target. Genty flew back into the bars overhang pillar. The pillar broke, and the bar's overhang went crumbling down on him. Sam rushed over, hoping that Genty was ok. But he wasn't. By the time Sam reached the mess and dug him out…Genty was already dead.

Genty had taken Sam in. he had protected and fed Sam. Treated him like one of his own. He taught Sam how to survive. How to live off his surroundings. Genty was the only person who ever respected Sam. His death was more than a tragedy. Skipper would pay for what he did. Skipper would find out what it felt like to lose someone who treats you like you matter. He only had one thing in common with Skipper.

They were both rejects. Hatched with personalities that not many took to, quickly. Skipper had found friends. And Sam had found a friend. Skipper was tolerated, and Sam was dealt with. Skipper wasn't beat up be those who surrounded him. Sam was feared enough not to be. He didn't need respect like Skipper did. He was feared. People wouldn't mess with him because he could kill them. Skipper couldn't kill purposely. Not since he murdered Genty. Skipper spilt Genty's blood. Now it was time to spill some of his own.

Sam had set up a game. He just needed to some final editing. Set up backgrounds, and make sure the obstacles worked, and the guns didn't actually kill. Sam had built up an army of five hundred thousand men. Skipper and his pals would be on a team of forty. The opposing team would have stronger men, faster men, and smarter men. It would be forty against five hundred or more, depending on the arena. There were eighteen arenas in total. With five hundred thousand men to fight amongst those eighteen planets. It would be fun to see If Skipper could survive each arena. Defeat all his enemies. Triumph over the challenge at hand. What would most interesting to see was if his friends would stay with him to the end.

Sam sat down in front of the main computer, and stared up at the giant screen that sat before him. He eyed the thousands of little buttons in front of him, naming what each one did as his eyes rolled over them. They were a multitude of colors with printed designs on each one. The key board was a semicircle, not exactly a half circle but close. He rolled from one end to the other on his hover chair. He needed to see what final touches needed to be added. It was mostly numbers now. How many men would be on each arena, how many bases to add in, and how many structures to place and where to place them. He needed to figure out what information to put in the arm bands. Where they were and how many men they had, along with how many men the opposing team had, were already programed into the devices. A map could be added, he should add that. A communication system should also be added, more for him and not them. He would be able to toy with them, play a part in the game. Watching would be fun, yes. But if he could toy with them… then he would really have a ball.

Sam pushed a button on the key pad and two mechanical hands came to him on a flying plate. He slipper his flipper into them and began typing, flying across the key board, from one side to the other, preparing the final touches.

"file, arm bands, input, mapping system, basic two dimensional, blue and white, finalize. File, arm bands, connection ties, main frame, arm bands, hi definition surround sounds, no off buttons, that wouldn't be any fun, free access for main frame only, arm band is to only come on when main frame talks to it, oh yes and we want to get replies from them, finalize." Sam whispered to himself as he added features to the arm bands. After he was done with them, he moved onto the finishing touches to the arenas. That took longer than he had hoped. Each arena had a glitch that had to be fixed. Every arena needed a few more details and structures to make them come alive. Well they would be alive, up in space. Sam had just found the perfect place to put his system. A planet, much like earth, with trees and rivers and breathable air. He called it Regione Mortalis. It was easy to manipulate. He had added his own special equipment to the planet. Now he could change the landscape entirely simply by uploading the arena to the planets data base from the main frame. He could turn mountains into seas, and valleys into volcanoes, anything he wanted. But he couldn't do that now. No. he was like a producer off a movie, an editor, a designer, he created each arena specifically for this. He didn't have time to play with his invention. He was the maker of the movie, everything had to be a specific way, in a specific place. The arenas had to be perfectly put together, so no glitches formed. That is what Sam did. For hours and hours, he had perfected his game. Every arena had been updated many times, fixed up and rearranged. And after so long, after all of his endless nights spent in front of this dam computer, it was done. Adding the weapons and symbols to each forces weapons, uniforms, and possessions, the game was complete. He ran the test runs several times before declaring the project finished. Just in time too. Skipper and his pals were waking up.

But he had to look it over one more time. Reading all eighteen planets and their descriptions.

Alderaan, made of rolling grasslands, mountain ranges, and carefully made cities. There are also canyons in this arena. Most of the protection would be inside one of the Alderaan cities. One in particular, a city built into the walls of a canyon, would provide the perfect refuge and protection point.

Dagobah: a world of murky swamps, steaming bayous, and petrified gnarltree forests. The ubiquitous white spiders that roam the swamps are actually newly sprouted seedlings of the gnarltrees that will take root and grow.

Endor: Covered by massive, tightly-knit pine and redwood forests. Home of Ewoks, curious individuals that stood about one meter tall; they were omnivorous and used spears, slings, and knives as weapons; they also used hang gliders, and battle wagons as vehicles.

Coruscant: land drained of water, has one city that occupies the entire planet. Only one lake called western sea, which has artificially made islands floating on it. The surface is made of silicate rock.

Mustafar: a fiery volcanic world where lava is mined like a precious natural resource. The natives leapt across the lava fields to mine the planet's deadly natural resources.

Mygeeto: locked in an ice age, giant crystallized glaciation and ice covered its surface, as well as huge crystal spurs.

Naboo: covered by dense swamps, rolling grass plains, seas and verdant hills.

Tatooine: covered in deserts and rock formations. Has a very hot climate. Due to the extreme conditions, only a relatively mild region of its northern hemisphere was habitable, and less than 1% of the planet was covered in surface water.

Utapau: Mostly made of rock with huge sinkholes that go deep into the planet. Sink holes have civilizations built into the walls.

Geonosis: A rocky, desert world. Massive sandstorms were common. Semi-insectoid Geonosians live underground. Their homes appearance is like termite mounds, consisting of domes and buildings built into caverns and rock spires.

After reading over half of the planets Sam skimmed over the others, just to make sure they were there. He wanted to see his brother. Torment him a bit before he went into space. Have a little fun before the game began.

He made sure that, Felucia, Hoth, Kamino, Kashyyyk, Ord Mantell, yavin, Malastare, Manaan, and Ansion, were there and looked at a few words of description to make sure they were set up right. Then he left towards the prison chamber.

He really wanted to see how his little brother would manage in his game. If Skipper would even survive. The more he thought about it, the more fun watching became to Sam. He couldn't really wait to see Skipper struggling to defeat his enemies and water to survive. Every arena –planet- had water on it. Whether Skipper would find it or not, well Sam would just have to see.

He walked down the corridor to the prisoners chamber, the guards stepped out of his way. He walked past several empty sells. Well almost empty. There were some bones in a lot of the cells, but that was none of his concern. Sam walked to the end of the corridor and looked into the last prisoner cell.

Two briliant blue eyes stared back at him. And he could read them this time. For once in his life he could read his brothers eyes. _Why?_ They asked. Sam didn't know how he did it. But he was sure that, that was what they said. Sam knew what the entire question was too. _Why did you have to take them too?_

Three other sets of blue eyes looked up at him.

Sam smiled. Skipper was regretful. And he should be. But no amount of bargening would set them free. Thety were going to suffer with him.

"Hello brother." He said slyly. "Having fun yet?"

Skipper remained silen, as did the others.

Sam laughed. His laugh was cold and hard, like metal in the dead of winter, and cut through the air like the teeth of a shark. Pure evil was the laughed that roared out of Sams beak. Rining in Skippers ears, showing how heartless Sam had become.

Sam lunged at the cell and grabbed the bars.

Skipper's three friends jumped and crawled backwards. Skipper didn't so much as flinch.

"I'm going to make you suffer the pain that I did." Sam hissed. "It's your turn to spill some blood."

Skipper didn't move. He didn't speak. And Sam couldn't read him anymore. He had never seen his brother so emotionless. Skipper was calm. And his eyes blank. No emotion at all.

That annoyed Sam. He was trying to make Skipper beg. For his friends life, for his life, whatever. He wanted Skipper to have some sort of reaction that would put Sam way above him. Like a slave and his master. But no, he had to mess with Skipper, get him to talk more. Then he would be able to toy with his brother. "You're pathetic, you know that?" Sam spat. "Having no emotion isn't going to help you Skipper."

"What do you want from me Sam?" Skipper asked blankly, in a straight calm voice.

Sam growled. "To make you suffer the way I did. To have your friends suffer the way Genty did."

"Genty? Sam we didn't mean to do that. He tried to kill us first." Skipper replied calmly. "we warned him Sam. We told him when he reached for the weapon that we would fire back."

"I don't care what you did. You spilt his blood." Sam pressed his face up against the metal bars. "Now I'm going to spill yours." He growled.

_**O_O gasp! There's where Sam is coming from. All wrapped up in a deadly black bow. All of the planets are not mine; they are all from star wars. I really don't think this story is a crossover, because there's no blasters or clones, droids, or Jedi knights, the guns look like blasters, but they're shock shooters (will be explained in next chapter). And there is no death really, unless the person's heart stops due to the electric shock. But that's it.**_


	3. a little chit chat

"Spill blood?" Private asked fearfully. That sounded painful.

"So you want them to die?" Skipper asked, "You want them to die like Genty did? Is that what he would want Sam? Are you sure that he would've wanted you to kill us?" he was trying to make Sam rethink things. Skipper knew Genty. He was a nice mostly mild man. When they asked him about the whereabouts of his daughter, he flipped. Skipper knew he would, that's why he warned Genty. Skipper didn't know that the whole bar would collapse. He didn't know.

Sam thought for a moment. No. No, Genty wouldn't want him to kill his brothers friends. So he would make it a test. It would be easy to change. He would just have to readjust some settings to the game. It would still be fun to watch.

"No." Sam replied.

Private, Kowalski, and Rico were relieved, now they would be set free.

Skipper knew better. He knew Sam wasn't giving up on his plans. He had a wicked heart. Evil be definition. And every evil doer had a backup plan. A plan B. Some way to change things ever so slightly to adapt to the new situation. Sam was smart. How smart was what Skipper feared.

"But that will only change very little." Sam continued, "Let me explain some things to you. I have prepared a game. It's a special game made specifically for you and you stupid friends. In this game you will have to battle on eighteen different fields, planets actually." Sam started to pace in front of the cell, "You will be equipped with an arm band. This arm band will show the map of where you are, your overall health, your amo level, how many men are left on your team and how many men are left to fight. It will also let me talk to you while you are on each planet and allow me to transfer you to another one. Every man you take out can drop one of three things. An amo cylinder, a medicine kit, or both. Can, is the key word here. Some of them won't drop anything at all. Not that you only get one of these things when an enemy is taken down. How do you take down an enemy, you ask. Simple. You will be given a weapon. Two actually, and two explosives. I'll let you figure those out. Though I might tell you now that the weapons do not kill. They are shockers. Every bullet that is shot and bomb that blows up is made of electricity. And every weapon has a different level of voltage. Every man that is taken out will be transported to a cage back here, at the main headquarters. And they will stay out for the rest of the game. Of course, all of your friends will be revived when it is time for the next planet. But you Skipper, if you die in the game, I will destroy you rip you limb from limb. So basically if you die in the game, you're going to die in reality.

"On with the explanation shall we? Each planet may or may not have vehicles. I'll let you figure that out too. And each planet may have a life form. Whether or not they will help or hurt you is up to them. But it's not a personal choice. No, the entire species will help or hurt together." Sam smiled evilly at Skipper. "You can find the rest out for yourself." He laughed. Skipper would have to explain that again to his idiotic friends. Sam liked the thought of Skippers friends bailing on him because they were too afraid or didn't understand. He walked away, still laughing, eager to find out how everything would play out. But he would let Skippers mind ponder the idea of the game before everything began. One hour. In one hour he would return. And then, the game would start.

Skipper watched his brother walk away. He couldn't help wondering what happened to Sam. He didn't quite understand how someone could look their brother in the eye and tell him that he was going to kill him. Brothers don't kill each other, it's just not right. Or sane. But at least Kowalski, Rico, and Private wouldn't die. He just had to stay alive in the game. Then he wouldn't die either.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked fearfully. He didn't understand the concept of the game. Shocks and explosions and battle, even transportation seemed a little farfetched to be true. Kowalski didn't want to leave Skipper to fend for himself, but he didn't want to do this. He was afraid to. He needed more details, more explanations. He was confused about the whole thing.

"Kowalski, I know what you're going to ask, but I can't tell you anything. Sam has a game that he wants us to play. If we're ever going to get out of here, then we're going to have to play it. And the odds will probably be against us." Skipper explained. He didn't like it any more than they did. He wasn't so sure about the shock explosions and bullets, or the life forms and multiple terrains. It all sounded unrealistic. A fluke, even though he knew it wasn't. Skipper knew that Sam would make it hard for him to win. But he was still going to try.

"Skippah? What did he mean, bullets of electricity?" Private asked confused. He didn't understand. Did that mean lighting would come out of the guns? Or were the bullets literally bullets that shocked you if they hit you? The whole idea of this game was just frightening to Private. He wanted to go home, but he knew that Skipper was right. The only way home is through the game.

"It means the bullets won't kill you, they'll shock you. Electrify you, and you'll probably pass out if you're hit too many times." Skipper explained.

"So basically, it's the pain of the bullet without the death?" Kowalski guessed. It sure sounded like it. Although, he didn't want to die, so the shock bullet was probably better in the sense of life or death.

"Basically." Skipper replied. It didn't sound very good. But they were locked in a prison cell, with no way but the door to get out, and were about to be sent into a game which none of them knew much about, so nothing would really be sounding good anytime soon.

"And he's doing this because we accidentally killed Genty." Private stated solemnly. He didn't like to remember that they killed someone. They never killed anyone ever again after that. They made sure nothing would fall on or run into the target after they hit it. They made sure nothing that they shot at their target would kill it, they didn't aim for vital organs. They never meant to kill Genty. He stared out of the bars to the cell. They were at the end of a hallway, the doorway to the rest of the headquarters looked so far away. But even though it was far from where he was, Private could see inside the cell, and every other cell too. The walls were made of prison cells. Some of the cells' bars were rusted, silver bars lined with red scratchy rust. Some of the bars were broken, lying in the dark gray, stone prison cell. There looked to be chains in every cell, some empty, others holding skeletons of those who died here and were never taken out. Bones of penguins and lemurs, and other animals. Bones of prisoners who were never set free, who died right there, sitting in those chains. The corners of the cells were covered in moss, green and soft in appearance. Some bones had moss growing on them. It was a sad place. A desolate lifeless place. It held the pain, helplessness, and hopelessness of those who had died here. It held sorrow of the families who never saw their loved ones ever again. It made Private feel all of it. All the sorrow, the fear, the nervousness. It brought tears to his eyes. He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to be afraid, he didn't want to play this game, he didn't want to have killed Genty.

He was starting to lose it.

Skipper looked over to Private. He saw the water in his eyes. Private didn't need to be here. He didn't need to have the memory of Genty haunting him right now. Not here. It added to the fear and nerves that the prison held. Private couldn't handle it. Skipper knew Private couldn't handle it. He shouldn't need to. He went over to Private and sat down next to him. "I accidently killed Genty, Private." He said gently. "You didn't do anything at all. I gave you orders, and you followed them."

"But, I could've not listened Skippah." Private sniffled. He could've disobeyed, but he didn't.

"That doesn't make it your fault." Skipper replied, calmly.

"Yes it does." Private said, as the water in his eyes poured out and ran down his cheeks. He…couldn't do this.

"No, it doesn't. Private if I hadn't given you the order then you wouldn't have needed to choose between listening and disobeying. Besides you didn't pull the trigger." Skipper explained.

"Yeah, but I gave Rico the gun." Private countered, in a cracked voice. "If I never gave Rico the gun then he wouldn't have pulled the trigger and we wouldn't be here."

"And if I never gave the order you wouldn't have had the gun to give Rico. Private, you didn't kill Genty. And neither did Rico, even if he did pull the trigger. His death is my fault. This. This, is my fault." Skipper replied calmly. It killed him to admit that. But it was the truth, if he hadn't given orders to return any fire they received, Genty would still be alive. And they wouldn't be in this prison waiting to be sent into a game. If he could go back and do things differently, he would.

Private looked up at Skipper. Could it be true? Yes, Skipper was right. Skipper had given orders. It wasn't his fault. It was Skippers. The thought helped him calm down.

Skipper gave Private a warm smile. It helped hold back the sorrow and guilt that was rising in him. It helped loosen the knot of guilt in his stomach. He knew all along that it was his fault Genty was dead. He just never admitted to it. He never wanted to. Genty was the first and last life that he ever took. He never wanted to cause any casualties ever again, no matter what happened. He didn't want to feel so guilty, so monstrous, ever again. He didn't want another life haunting his conscious. Genty was a good man, he didn't deserve to die.

Private smiled wearily at Skipper. After a few seconds of thinking he realized how much that had to bother Skipper. Skipper wasn't a killer. Even at his worst. Looking into his eyes, Private could see it. Skipper was still upset, he was still filled with guilt and sorrow, he was just good at hiding it. "It doesn't matter anymore does it?" Private asked assumingly, his voice was still wobbly.

Skipper looked down at the floor. "It still matters. Every life matters." He replied.

Private looked down as well. Regretting what he said.

"Every life matters to someone else. Everyone belongs somewhere. They have someone who'll miss them. When one life dies, a million pieces of hearts die with it. Every life lost, leaves someone behind. And they have to move on, knowing that they'll never see their loved one, or friend, ever again. It changes people, they become someone else. Like a chain reaction. One death changes the lives of a million others. In the end… everyone changes." Skipper explained solemnly. He became filled with sorrow and regret. Sam had every right to want to kill him. Genty probably brought Sam peace, showed him kindness when everyone else didn't. And Skipper took that away. He ruined Sam's peace. Skipper took away the only person who ever cared about Sam. He deserved to die because of that. More than Genty did. He didn't deserve to die at all. But he did. Tears started to sting behind Skippers eyes. Genty should still be alive. He shouldn't have died that day. Skipper should've stayed out of his business, out of his daughters business. Regret, sorrow, and guilt. That was he felt.

Kowalski walked over, "What's done is done, Skipper." He said calmly, placing a flipper on Skippers shoulder. "You can't change the past." He couldn't say he knew how Skipper felt. But he knew what Skipper was feeling. Horrible no doubt. Kowalski knew he couldn't fix anything. No one could. It was best if they moved on. Not forget, just move along. Genty was a good guy, Skipper didn't mean for things to go the way they did. Skipper didn't know that was going to happen. "You didn't know Skipper. You couldn't have known."

Skipper took a deep breath. "I know Kowalski." He replied. "But that doesn't help a lot." He stood up, "I guess I can worry about that later though." Skipper pushed Genty to the back of his mind. They didn't need to remember that right now. They would never forget that day, but now wasn't the right time to think about it.

"Yup." Rico agreed. He could tell that Skipper really didn't need the memory haunting right now. And truthfully, neither did he. He pulled the trigger, not Skipper. But Skipper did give the orders. They both shared the same feelings of guilt and regret. It was good to push that memory to the back of his head. He needed to think about the game that they were about to be thrown into.

"Skipper, what exactly do you think Sam plans to do if by some chance we do, beat the game?" Kowalski asked curiously. He didn't think they'd fail. He knew Skipper would probably be the last man standing. But what would happen after they won? Would they be thrown into another game? That was a scary thought.

"I don't know." Skipper shrugged. He didn't. Sam would probably let them go and plan something else. Or he would keep them prisoner while he made another plan.

"Well that helps a lot." Kowalski replied. Sam was Skippers brother. Didn't he knew anything about the guy?

Skipper sighed. "I don't know my brother well enough to tell you what he'll do Kowalski. He's be a stranger to me my entire life. I wish I knew him better, but I don't" Skipper explained. He was getting concerned with Kowalski. If Kowalski could snap so quickly by the unknown then he might be a problem later on. They didn't have any room for problems. Not until they figured out what they had to do.

"Oh. Well do you know when he'll put us in his game?" Kowalski asked. He didn't know why he felt so frustrated all of a sudden. He didn't want to lose his mind yet. They needed to work together if they were going to get out of here, and he couldn't work with anyone if he let himself get frustrated so easily. He had to keep control of himself. But he wanted to know when they would get put into this, so called, game of Sam's. He was getting tired of waiting.

"I don't know that either." Skipper sighed. He didn't know anything. He felt so stupid, he should know something. It was infuriating.

"I guess we'll just have to wait then." Private said. He didn't like the idea of waiting, but it was their only option.

Sam fixed what needed to be fixed, making sure that no one would really die and such. Then he walked back towards the prison cells. The whole process took him about an hour. It wasn't very hard, simplicity compared to everything else he'd done.

"Is he ever coming back?" Kowalski asked impatiently.

"Well by all means yes!" Sam shouted from the other end of the hallway. "Did you miss me?"

"Not as much as you might think." Skipper replied. He didn't want to deal with Sam being cocky at the moment.

"I think you did." Sam said, "That's what brothers do."

"Oh really? And brothers lock each other up in prison cells too right?" Skipper countered.

"Watch yourself." Sam warned.

"When are we going into this little game of yours Sam?" Skipper asked impatiently ignoring the threat.

Sam grinned. "Right now." He replied slyly. "Guards!" He shouted.

Skipper backed away from the bars of the cell.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private did the same.

Four big, muscled, mean looking penguins walked in. It looked like they could each pick up a minivan. They were a force to be reckoned with.

Sam opened the cell.

Skipper knew right away that he probably should fight these guys. He would be able to handle one, but not four. That didn't mean he was going to give up easily.

Kowalski had the exact same thoughts.

Rico and Private didn't try to stay away, they didn't think it was worth the pain that these big guys could give them.

Kowalski and Skipper jumped around and dodged flippers for a good ten minutes before they got caught. Skipper around the neck and Kowalski by his feet.

"You knew you wouldn't be able to dodge them forever right?" Sam asked. "It was stupid to try really." He shook his head. "Take them to transport pad. I expected more from you Skipper."

Five minute later, Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico were tied together on a round, blue platform in the middle of a computer room. This wasn't any ordinary computer room, and it sure as hell wasn't anything like Blowholes either. The computer room that they were sitting in looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Everything was metal and grey, with many different buttons and screens all over the place. In the front of the room was a massive, black computer screen with a long, curved, black keyboard underneath it. That had to be the main system. There were multiple computers, that were black as well, around the room. But none were as big as the main system. The floor was white and looked like some sort of tile. There was only one transport pad.

Sam was at the biggest computer –A.K.A main frame or main system– typing in coordinated for the first round.

"Having fun yet Sam?" Skipper called over to his brother. He could tell by Sam's behavior and actions that he was going to get a kick out of his attempt to defeat each planet.

"Ha! I started having fun when I blew you up." Sam replied, "That was too easy. You made it seem like you've never seen a flying bomb disc before."

"We haven't." Kowalski replied annoyed. Why did the bad guys always, always, _always,_ get the good stuff? It wasn't fair.

"Oh too bad," Sam said faking sympathy, "It would've been a whole lot more fun if you did." He shrugged, then continued typing.

"How are you typing so fast if you only have two flippers?" Private asked. He must have very fast flippers.

Sam laughed, Private was so stupid it was funny, watching him go down would be interesting. He pressed a button on the key board and his chair brought him in front of Private.

Private nearly jumped out of his skin, Sam flew in front of him so fast. He was on a chair, but it didn't have any legs. Sam was wearing gloves.

"These," Sam said waving his hands in front of Private, "Are not flippers. They are mechanic hands made by me, specifically for me, and help me with my various projects. Not a very hard concept."

"Show off." Kowalski huffed under his breath.

Sam dismissed that, Kowalski Probably didn't realize that Sam had enhanced his hearing. He went back to the key board and typed in the rest of the coordinates. When he was done he grabbed the transporters switch –it was detachable- jumped off his hover chair and walked over to Skipper.

Skipper growled and Sam. He didn't know what this game would be like, but he already hated Sam for sending them into it.

"Ha! I'm not intimidated by you little brother. I just wanted to wish you luck, because we all know you'll need it." Sam hissed.

Skipper stopped growling. He was suddenly filled with a sense of fear. He didn't know. That had to be it. He didn't know what Sam was going to do, od what this game would actually be like. Not knowing filled him with fear. How can you dodge a bullet if you don't know where it's coming from? You can't. that's what he felt like. Like there was a bullet coming his way and he couldn't dodge it, because he didn't know.

"Sam. Think about what you're doing." Skipper said cautiously.

Sam laughed. "Good bye Skipper!" he switched the transporter on.

"Skippah?" Private asked fearfully. He was terrified. What was going to happen to them? where were they going? What was going to be waiting for them when they got there?

The blue platform started to glow beneath them. It began to hum and rise into the air.

"Have fun." Sam laughed.

"Just hold on Private." Skipper replied. He himself was nervous, afraid of what lay ahead of them.

After rising for a good twenty five seconds, the transporter stopped. The ceiling opened, reveling the dark night sky. There were very few stars surrounding a bright moon.

Then the platform flashed…and they were gone.

"Revenge," Sam said as the transporter came back down, "It tastes so sweet."

_**MWAHAHAHA! Round one will be in the next chapter. Planet- Alderaan. Tension- gradual incline. Enemies- 5,000. Teammates- 400. Chance of success- slim to none. **_

_**Should I do that for each chapter? Or should it be a surprise? **___


	4. Alderaan

_**Sorry it's taken a while since I updated. Here is the first level of Samuel's game.**_

_**Alderaan**_

_**Enjoy.**_

They were on a grassy plain. Not tied up anymore.

Skipper looked down at his arm. It was almost completely covered by metal. From a little before the tip of his flipper to right before his shoulder was a weird looking arm band. Near the tip was a small purple button and a tiny circular screen. Next to that, further up the arm band, was a blue circular indent. It had four evenly spaced mechanisms in it that looked like they came out and grabbed something. In the middle of the metallic arm band was a screen. The screen was a green grid and had multiple icons and numbers on it. One icon was a red hexagon made of six outlined triangles. Next to it was the number 5000. That was on the top left corner of the screen. On the top right corner was a circular blue symbol. It looked like a quarter moon turned on its side with a square branching off the middle and stopping in the center of the circle. Next to it was the number 400. Under the red symbol was what looked to be another symbol. The symbol was four bullets. Next to it was the number 5000. Across from the bullet symbol, under the blue symbol, was a small grey circular icon. This icon had a 10 next to it. At the very bottom of the screen was a red cross. Next to the red cross was a long line that stretched the entire bottom of the screen. The line was dark green. What each icon and number meant he didn't know. Around the screen on either side were two rigid black squares. They looked like speakers of some sort. Near the bottom of the screen was an oval shaped rigid piece. It looked like a microphone. Communication. It was used for communication. It had to be. Further up, near his shoulder, was a circular red indent. Like the blue one it had four mechanic arms that looked like they were used for grabbing things. He stared at the arm band for a few minutes trying to figure out what it was.

"Kowalski analysis," he ordered looking over the mechanic arm.

"It seems to be some sort of arm band," Kowalski replied. He honestly didn't know what it was. It was metal and bent with the flipper. Its design was one that he'd never seen before.

"It's an armband," Sam's voice rang out from Skipper's arm band.

"Really? Thank you so much, Sherlock," Skipper retorted annoyed. That part was obvious. "Hate to break it to you, but we already knew that."

"Would you like to know what it does?" Sam asked slyly.

"Oh do tell," Skipper replied. He rolled his eyes. Sam was having too much fun with this.

"Come now, Skipper, would you like to know or are you going to continue to be rude?"

"Just tell us Sam," Skipper growled.

"If you insist. We'll start with the screen. On the top are the two sides. Your side is represented by a blue icon and your enemies by the red one. The corresponding number is how many men are on each side. I Guarantee that your side will always have the smaller number of men. Then again, you probably didn't expect this to be easy. Knowing you brother, hardship is your middle name, no? Anyway, the bullet icon obviously represents how much ammo your weapon possesses and the circular one next to it is how many grenades you have. The icon on the bottom is your health. On either side, which you could see if you have eyes, are two circular indentations with mechanical grabbers. One is blue and one is red. Something goes into each one. Will I tell you? Eh… no. at the tip there is a purple button and a little green circular screen. Press the purple button and a holographic map will pop out of the tiny green screen. Good enough? Well that's all you're getting. I'd look on that map if I were you. Something approaches quickly," Sam taunted. "Ahahahaha!"

Then the voice just cut off. "Swell," Skipper sighed.

"Uh… Skipper?" Private called fearfully. He had pushed the purple button. A map had popped up. There were four green dots, which he thought were the four of them, and moving towards them were multiple numbers of red dots. That couldn't be good.

Skipper, Kowalski and Rico turned their heads to Private. They saw his map popped up and walked over.

"Uh oh," Rico croaked when he saw the map. Trouble was coming, fast too.

"Uh, oh is right Rico," Kowalski agreed. "Whatever those dots mean, it can't be good."

"We need to find cover," Skipper stated. They needed to hide behind something.

A mile off to the left was the base of a large mountain range. Between the base of the mountain and the spot where they were standing was a rock. Skipper looked at the rock and the mountain for a few seconds. They could start there. One thing was for sure, they had to get out of this field. He lifted his arm and pressed the little purple button. A map popped up a second later. He looked at the map, at the bottom was a small compass. He looked over the map. The red dots were getting closer. He looked to the west of their current location. The map showed a very large mountain range, and no red dots. There were no enemies approaching from the west. That's where they had to go. "Follow me," he ordered and took off running towards the mountains. His map automatically shut off when he started running.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private were confused at first, but they followed Skipper running across the grassy plain. They followed him to the rock that marked the halfway point between the mountains and their previous location. At the base of the rock were four guns and three canisters. Two were red and one was blue. Skipper picked up one of the guns and threw the rest at Kowalski. Kowalski gave one to Rico and Private and kept one for himself.

"Rico," Skipper called throwing the three canisters. He didn't know what they were for but he wanted to keep them just in case they needed them. He had a feeling that they had something to do with the red and blue indents in the arm bands.

Rico plucked them out of the air and swallowed them. Stored for later use. Whatever that was.

Skipper opened his map again. The red dots were closing in. they didn't have a lot of time between now and when the enemy forces would break the horizon. Without wasting any more time, he bolted out from behind the rock towards the mountain. Rico Kowalski and Private followed close behind.

"Where are we going?" Kowalski asked running up next to Skipper. He wanted to know why they were bolting across the plains and why they had to go so fast.

"The mountains," Skipper replied. He held his gun tight to his chest making sure it didn't accidentally go off. It was the size of an assault rifle, but looked like a machine gun, pistol, and sniper rifle combined. It had the barrel of a machine gun with the scope, butt, and flip-down tri-pod of a sniper rifle and the trigger of a pistol. It also had a strap that was attached to the bottom of the barrel to the end of the butt of the gun and what looked to be a very small circular dome on the side. "We don't want to be in the plains. We'll be spotted within seconds."

Kowalski nodded and kept running. He understood that. Personally he didn't feel like dying today anyway.

After a few minutes of running they made it to the mountains. They stuck close to the sides of the mountains and watched the enemy force gather in the middle of the field. They were wearing all white uniforms. They had white helmets that covered everything from the tip of their heads to their necks. They looked like they were wearing high-tech armor made for the type of battle they were about to take part in. some had grey capes on. Those were probably the commanders. When they gathered together they looked like a ball of white against the green grass of the plain. The only other color they had was the black that came from the guns in their hands. They were a force to be reckoned with.

All of a sudden they started falling. One by one. To the north came an army of orange, red, green and white. They looked exactly like the ones in the middle of the field but their helmets were painted with an orange or blue or red stripe and their shoulder armor was painted the same color of the stripe on their helmets. They were a smaller group though. After a few minutes they too, began to fall. One. By. One.

Skipper looked down at his armband. The numbers on each side were going down. He looked down at his weapon, they should be helping. He looked up at the mountain, a few yards up was a ledge. The ledge faced the battlefield. Half of it was just rock. They could use that as cover. He slung the strap around his shoulder and started to climb. Rico, Kowalski and Private didn't notice, they were too captured by the battle to notice Skipper rising onto the mountain. It only took him one or two minutes to get to the ledge. There was a small rock wall at the edge of the ledge. He flipped down the tripod and rested the gun on the small wall. He looked through the scope. He could see the white armor of each enemy as if he were only a few yards away. He had a sniper rifle, perfect. He held the gun steady and wrapped his flipper around the trigger. One shot. It would only take one shot to take down an enemy. He couldn't just watch as the men on his team fought the enemy. He had to do something. This was his fight too. And he was going to fight it. He had to. The enemy had more men, so they would have left over men when everyone on his team had fallen. He would end up taking many men down anyway. This was a game. Sam wanted him to play a game, so he was going to play. If it was a war game, then Skipper would play it like a war game. Take out the enemy and you win. Those were the rules. Looking through the scope he took aim at his first target. He aimed at the helmet of a white armored man and pulled the trigger. From the bang of the gun going off to the drop of the soldier was a millisecond. The recoil was stronger that he had thought. It knocked him back a few inches. He quickly shook it off and got back to the wall. He reloaded and took aim again. He pulled the trigger. _Bang! _Another one dropped. He reloaded took aim and pulled the trigger again. Another man dropped.

By the fourth bullet Kowalski, Rico and Private had snapped out of it and looked up. The saw the barrel of a gun, and the recoil as it fired. They also noticed that Skipper was missing. Where did he go? It took a minute for them to put two and two together. Kowalski realized it first. He climbed the rigid side of the mountain up to the ledge that Skipper was on. Sam did say it was a game. They would have to fight. That was the point of the game. That and survival. Or at least for Skipper it was. Kowalski wasn't as worried as he should've been. Skipper was a fighter. He never, _ever, _went down without some sort of fight. Not only that, but he was a good fighter. He knew what he was doing. Kowalski had faith in Skipper and Skippers experience. That didn't mean he was going to let Skipper fight all by himself. This was a game, a **team** game. Teamwork had to be involved somewhere right? He walked up next to Skipper and flipped down the tri-pod on his gun. He set his gun down and mimicked Skipper taking aim at the enemy. He aimed at the chest, and pulled the trigger. The recoil was little bit stronger than he had expected and knocked him off balance for a second.

"Nice of you to join me, Kowalski," Skipper said, reloading. He looked over at Kowalski as the scientist placed the gun back on the wall. "Got to hold in tight. Steady it, aim," He said as he took aim. "And fire." He pulled the trigger, taking out another man. "Reload and repeat."

Kowalski nodded and took aim. He heard Skipper's gun go off next to him. He fired…the man he aimed at dropped. A sense of guilt rose in his stomach. He just killed someone. Took another life. He was scared for a minute.

Skipper looked over at Kowalski and caught the look on his face. "It's electricity Kowalski. He's not really dead," He reminded as he looked through the scope of his gun. He fired. "No one is really going to die."

Kowalski looked at Skipper feeling stupid. Right. No one was going to die. This was all just a game. Well for most of them in was. "No one but you," he replied.

"Yeah, well I don't kill easily," Skipper retorted casually. "Something Sam will be figuring out soon." He aimed again and fired.

Kowalski smiled. Skipper's first-to-rise-last-to-fall attitude was a comfort. It reminded Kowalski that even though they were outnumbered, Skipper had no plans of losing this game. When in a battle like this where you were outnumbered 5000 to 400, that attitude was quite comforting. At least for Kowalski it was. He took aim and fired. Another man fell. But he didn't feel bad that time. A game was a game.

Private looked down at his arm band. The numbers on both teams were still falling. The red icon now had 3802 next to it and the blue had 258 next to it. And both numbers continued to fall. He looked around. He was all alone.

Rico saw Kowalski climb onto a ledge and started to climb. He wanted to join the fight too. He didn't want to just sit and watch. Then he'd be a coward, and he wasn't a coward. At least he didn't think he was. He climbed to the ledge and mimicked Kowalski and Skipper. It took him a few tried to figure everything out. But once he got it he was dropping enemies like flies. Knowing that they wouldn't really die helped.

Private climbed up to the ledge and did what everyone else was doing. He had no idea how to shoot; it took him a few minutes to figure out how to flip down the tri-pod. When he did finally figure out how to shoot the recoil knocked him onto his butt. "Oh dear," he said in shock as he sat on the ground. He hadn't even aimed. He just pulled the trigger and now he was sitting on the ground. He wanted to help, honestly he did, but when you don't operate weapons all the time and have very little experience you don't tend to know how to get up and fire a gun right away. So he just sat there still shocked at how he was knocked over by the very object that was supposed to help him.

Kowalski put down his weapon and walked over to Private. He was about to help Private up when he heard a scream. It came from Skipper. He quickly turned around to see Skipper on the ground with a black, smoking mark on his shoulder. Rico was ducked behind the rock as red laser-like bullets flew over his head.

The lasers were a few inches long and glowed a bright red. They were made of pure electricity and radiated heat because of it. The white armored men had turned their attention to the mountains and were starting to fire back, as they marched towards the rocky side of the mountain. They were shooting the electric bullets at the ledge that Skipper and Rico were hiding behind. The bullets were so hot and powerful they were starting to chip away at the rock wall the protected them. Chips and pieces were crumbling off, making the rock wall fall apart little by little. The situation was made worse by the fact that the teams were uneven. The enemy had 2000 men and their team only had 50. The enemies numbers were dropping slower now but their side was dropping at the same steady rate. 49…48…47…46…45. The enemies numbers were barely dropping at all. 1999…1998…1997… 1996…..1995…1994. It wasn't fast enough.

Skipper held his burnt shoulder in pain. Those bullets hurt. He looked down at his armband, the green bar at the bottom had shrunk to a fourth of the size it was before, and it was red now. Oddly he felt faint, like he could pass out any minute. He felt weak too. Now he understood, the bar was the health, and being hit by one of those bullets took health away, making the bar on the armband shrink and change color. But was there a way to reverse it? He turned to Rico. "Rico give me the blue canister," he ordered.

Rico coughed up the blue canister and threw it at Skipper.

Skipper snatched it out of the air and examined it. The top and bottom was grey but the middle was glowing blue. He looked from the canister to his armband. Blue circle, blue canister. Sam said something went into each indent. He took a deep breath and placed the canister into the blue indent. The armband instantly grabbed the canister and… drained it. The blue glow wasn't a light, it was liquid. And it was draining into the armband. Skipper looked down at the screen; the bar next to the red cross was growing and slowly turning green again. By the time the canister was empty the green health bar was full sized and green again. Not only that but the fatigue and weakness that Skipper had felt went away. It was all clear after that. Blue was health. When you put a blue canister into the blue circular indent the armband would drain the canister and you would re-gain your health. Red had to be ammo then. The same thing would happen to red canister. Somehow the red liquid would get to the gun and give it more ammo. It all made sense now. Skipper looked at Kowalski, Rico, and Private. He smiled. "Looks like this game just got a little more interesting," he said slyly.

Private gave a weak smile. He looked down at his gun, it looked like… well a gun, but one thing stood out… the little dome on the side. He grabbed it and pulled on it. He didn't use a lot of strength but the dome popped off reveling a disc like object. It looked like an alien space ship. In the very middle was a blinking red light. He remembered something then that scared him. Sam had said something about a grenade, but they hadn't found any grenades. Well up until now. He looked up at Kowalski scared, not knowing what to do. "Kowalski?" he squeaked.

Kowalski was staring at it from the time Private pulled it out. He took from Private and examined it. Could this be the grenade? He didn't want to take a chance so he threw it off the ledge. Not a second later it blew up. Yeah…that was a grenade. He looked down at Privates gun. Another dome had appeared where the other one was before. "Private look down at your armband, next to the little grey circle. Read me the number," he instructed.

Private looked down at his armband. "Nine," he replied.

"Just as I suspected," Kowalski said. "These little domes are grenades," he announced.

"Good job Private," Skipper said. "Now let's show these white armored men whose boss." He smiled.

With a nod they all took position on the wall and aimed. Kowalski showed private how to do it properly and after a few tries Private had it down. They took out many more men when Skipper stood back.

They were getting too close. The enemy was fifty yards away, they had to be pushed back. "Rico you're with me. Kowalski you and Private stay up here and snipe, me and Rico are going down to try and push them back," he explained.

"But Skipper, that's dangerous!" Private objected. He didn't like that plan at all.

"What part of this isn't?" Skipper countered. "Private you stay up here with Kowalski. Rico and I will be fine. We need to push the enemy back before they get too close. Come one Rico," Skipper called. He took the scope of his gun to see if it would change anything. There was a clip at the end, so he clipped it onto the gun strap and walked to the edge of the ledge. "Let's go have some real fun."

Rico jumped up and did the same thing Skipper did with his scope. He reloaded and gave Skipper an evil grin. This might actually be fun.

The two of them jumped off the ledge and harshly landed on the grass below. They weren't knocked off balance and were able to take aim immediately. They found out that without the scope their guns became machine guns. Machine guns don't need a whole lot of aiming so they took their guns down from their eyes and basically just shot. They stood in one places and unloaded their guns on the approaching white ball of enemies. They began to once again drop like flies. The number of defeated enemies began to grow in increasing rates. Every second one was defeated.

Skipper didn't notice his ammo number. As he was shoot at the crowed it became very low until…54321…there were no bullets left. When his gun was empty it transformed. It shrank into a laser like pistol. He looked down at his armband. The ammo now showed a single bullet and an infinity symbol. That had to be for the pistol, laser, whatever it was. He didn't have time to be shocked or surprised he looked back up at the white cloud of enemies and aimed the little gun as he would a pistol. He fire over and over again to find that the gun did little damage and overheated very easily. It wasn't helping a whole lot. He needed the other gun. "Rico hand me one of the red canisters," he called. They had been dodging bullets and were farther apart than when they started.

Rico nodded, still shooting, and quickly turned and coughed a red canister towards Skipper. He coughed the other one out for himself. He saw how the blue canister healed Skipper, maybe the red one was ammo. And his ammo was running low so he had to take a chance. He jammed the red canister into the red indent on his armband and watched as the armband grabbed the canister and emptied. The red canister wasn't like the blue one. Instead of the top and bottom being grey, they were red and the middle was grey. The top and bottom seemed to be window-like showing that there was red liquid inside. It had to be liquid because it drained just like the blue one had.

Skipper grabbed the canister out of the air and put it to the red indent. It drained the same way the blue one did. Instantly after it drained it disappeared and the little laser pistol transformed back into the machine gun. The game was back on. He began to unload the gun into the white crowed of enemies again.

Private ducked behind cover, it was taking a lot out of him, this gun game. The massive recoil of the sniper rifle- type gun didn't help any. As he sat he looked down at his armband. 10 to 1372. Great. They were really losing now. He watched the numbers drop. 10….9…8..7…6…5. Four. Wonder who that could be. They were the only ones alive now. He looked down at the enemy's numbers to see that for being highly outnumbered…they weren't doing too bad. 1365…1364…1363…1362. The numbers were dropping fast. Maybe they could do this. Maybe they had a shot at winning this. He hoped so. Hanging onto his hope, Private stood up and aimed at the white men in the crowed of white. He aimed, and fired having to step back from the recoil yet again. But that didn't faze him so much now. It was just the four of them. The recoil was the least of his troubles. After that one shot he felt a massive, pain in his head. His head felt hot. Before he knew what was happening he was on the floor, dizzy and barely awake. He managed a scream before he hit the ground, but after that he didn't have the strength the do anything but whisper.

"Private!" Kowalski screamed in horror as he ran over to Private. He fell to his knees and hovered over Private's body. Private was barely awake and very weak. Kowalski picked up Privates arm and examined his armband. Private's health was extremely low. There was barely any portion of a line next to the red cross and the little portion of the line that was there was blinking a bright red. One thing hit Kowalski at that moment. The blue canister. Surely one of the many defeated enemies dropped one. He got up and ran over to the wall.

"Skipper" Kowalski shouted. "Private needs a blue canister!"

Skipper heard Kowalski. He scanned the ground for a blue canister. He looked at the feet of the enemy but didn't see any. Private needed a blue canister, he needed health. And by the sound of Kowalski's voice, he needed it fast. Skipper took a grenade off his gun and threw it into the crowd. He ran forward after it. His plan was simple, one of the enemies who will be defeated from the grenade should drop a blue canister. If he got there fast enough he could grab the blue canister and run back to Rico. From there he could torpedo it to Kowalski and cover him and Private while he fed the blue canister to Private's armband.

The grenade reached the enemy before him, blowing up seconds before he got there. In its wake were four canisters and a dent in the enemy front line. The dent was filly fast so he had to be quick. He ran forward and grabbed two blue canisters, one red one, and a combination of both. As he turned to run back he was hit in the side with by a bullet. It didn't hurt, but it made him realize that he would have to shoot back as he made his way to Rico. He dropped his gun, letting it hang from the strap, and spun around torpedoing a blue canister towards Kowalski. He spun three more times while running back. Each time he threw one of the other canisters at Rico.

Rico saw them all coming at caught all of them, storing them for later use. He covered Skipper as he ran back, shooting at the enemies who were closest to him.

Kowalski caught the blue canister and ran back to Private. He placed it into Private's armband and watched the health bar grow. He hadn't been over reacting or completely freaked, surprisingly. And as he watched the health bar on Private's armband grow he realized how calm (for him) he had been. He took a quick sigh of relief and sat back as Private came back to reality… or the game.

Private felt a wave of life come back to him. It was the only way to explain it. It felt like he was on the brink of death and was hit by a wave of life. He was completely healed. He didn't feel pain from the shot. When he felt his head there was still a sensitive spot, though. It didn't matter, not really. He was back in the game. He didn't exactly know if that was good or bad, but he didn't want to be separated from Kowalski. For two reasons. One, He didn't want to be alone. And two, because he didn't want to leave Kowalski to fend for himself up here. What if something happened to Kowalski and no one was here to help him? That wouldn't be good. That would be quite terrible.

The two shared a moment of piece before jumping back up to the wall. They stayed crouched down, hiding and unseen by the enemies.

"Ready?" Kowalski asked. He didn't want to push it, but by the way Private was able to jump back to the wall without staggering told him that Private felt better. Still.

Private nodded. "I think so," he replied with a confident grin.

Kowalski nodded back and the two stood up and fired into the enemy ball of white armored men. More and more dropped. They aimed for the center of the enemy forces knowing that Skipper and Rico were taking care of the front line.

Skipper and Rico continued to fire at the enemies, throwing grenades if they got too close. Private and Kowalski sniped the enemies at the middle of the ball of enemies, very efficiently too. Every shot was a hit. This continued for an hour or two. Skipper and Rico had to reload one more time. After an hour the enemy forces were noticeably thinning out. They were becoming less and less. After two hours there were only about twenty left in front of them. One by one, they fell until there were no more.

Kowalski and Private jumped down from the ledge and joined Skipper and Kowalski.

"So now what? Is that it?" Kowalski asked. He didn't understand. Was that the game? That wasn't very hard. That couldn't be it.

Skipper looked down at his arm band. There were still thirteen enemies left. "No," he replied not taking his eyes off the screen of his armband. He looked up at them. "Now we going on a search and destroy." He held his arm up showing them the screen of his armband. "We still have thirteen more to take out."

"They're hiding?" Private asked confused. That didn't make sense. Why would they be hiding? "Skippah, why are they hiding?"

"Because," he turned and scanned the field, "Sam doesn't want this to be easy." He pressed the purple button and looked over the map. There were three red dots clustered in the entrance of what appeared to be a city. Five were scattered at the edge of the forest on the other side of the grassy plain. Two were on top of the mountain. Two were deep inside the city. The last one was at the very south edge of the map, opposite the city. "Open your maps," he instructed. They all did. "We have to split up. Private you take the man at the very south edge of the map, Rico you climb the mountain and take out all enemies you find, there should be two. Kowalski you take out the men at the entrance of the city. Wait for us there. I'll take out the ones at the edge of the forest. We will meet at the entrance to the city and look for the rest together," he explained, "Understood?"

"Yes," Kowalski replied. He only had to take out three, how hard could it be? As nervous as he was about splitting up, he wasn't scared.

Rico nodded. He wasn't really scared at all. Climb, take out a few enemies, climb down, go to entrance of city. Simple. Truthfully it was. Or at least the concept was.

Private was a little shaken about the idea of splitting up. Maybe Skipper knew that. Maybe that was why he only had to take out the one enemy. Despite how shaken he was he nodded. It shouldn't be so hard. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He could do this.

Skipper looked over them one more time. Alright," he finally said. "Remember, we meet at the entrance of the city. Let's get this over with."

With that, they all took off towards their targets. Skipper ran towards the woods, Rico to the mountain, Kowalski to the city, and Private to the south edge of the map.

Skipper stopped in the middle of the forest and put on his scope. He thought that if he could snipe some of the enemies he'd be spared a lot of trouble. He looked through the scope and saw the forest, but not the base of the trees. He took the scope away from his eye and continued to run for a few minutes. He felt uneasy about splitting up, but it was the easiest way to do this. They needed to be alone and fight their own targets. It would give each of them a short time to think and relax. Sometimes it was easier to relax when you were alone. That and they would get in each other's way if they went all together. They were quieter alone too. He stopped again and took aim. He saw two men, a good distance apart too. He took aim. They could handle themselves, they were trained well enough. They knew how to do this. He focused his aim. They could do this. He fired and watched the man fall and disappear. He did the same to the other man. He took his gun away from his face. They could do this. He took a deep breath. He didn't understand why he was worrying about them so much; he had trained them well enough hadn't he? He had faith in them. He knew they could do this. He had to believe they could. He took a deep breath and walked forward. He ran to the edge of the forest and looked both ways. He couldn't see anyone. He took his map out. The last three were to his left, he turned and aimed. He saw two enemies right away. One was farther away than the other. They were both scanning the field searching. He had no doubt that they were looking for the four remaining enemies. He took aim, fired and quickly reloaded. He took aim again to see that the second man was aiming right back at him. He quickly fired and rolled to the side just in time to see a line of red fly by. He looked through the scope again to see that his enemy hadn't been so lucky. Taking a sigh of relief he started to walk forward, looking through his scope every few yards to see if he could spot his last target. Once he did he fired and took him out. He then looked at his map and started to walk towards the city entrance.

Rico didn't have a hard time climbing up the mountain; it was very rocky and had many hand and foot holds. As he approached the top he slowed down and tried to become quieter. He found a place to stop and took out the map. His two targets were right above the next ledge. He had to sneak up on them silently or he would be the one who was defeated. There was no room for that. He thought that the most efficient way to take the two enemies out was to snipe them both. Then he remembered the recoil of the sniper and changed his tactics. He looked at his map the two were standing right next to each other. He knew what he had to do. He put the scope on his gun and silently peered over the ledge. The two enemies were standing with their backs to him. Perfect. Aiming through his scope he shot the first one, taking the scope off during the recoil. He then shot blindly at the second man, taking him down before he turned around. Fighting Skipper was harder than what he'd just done. Taking a sigh of relief, he jumped down the mountain one ledge at a time and started to the gates of the city.

Private had used the sniper for a while. He had come to like it. It was easy to operate, you could take down people at a distance and it saved the exertion and worry of frontline troubles. He walked to the edge of the field, where Skipper told him to go, following the map and keeping an eye on his target. When he saw his target he aimed and fired, taking the enemy down. He stood there for a few minutes. The whole thing was very anticlimactic. He shrugged it off and walked to the gate of the city.

Kowalski was able to take out the three men on the bridge with ease as soon as he saw them. He thought it would be harder, more of a challenge. Then again, this was only the first round; everything really hadn't been too hard. They just didn't have a very good explanation. It was all explained at once and some of it wasn't needed at the time. Though, almost all of the information they had received had helped in one way or another. His guess was that the first round was just the test. To see what they were capable of. The next round would be harder. He could guarantee that the next round will be harder. Like a video game. Every time you beat a level you go on to the next level, a harder level, a more complicated level. They were in a game after all. Maybe they could do this. Maybe this game wouldn't be too hard. Who knows?

Kowalski waited at the gate to the city until Private Rico and Skipper came and then the four of them walked into the city together. It was very elegant, modern looking. Some of the buildings were huge, dwarfing the tallest of skyscrapers back on earth (supposing what same said was true). Others were quite small, one…two stories perhaps. Some of them had round rooftops, others came to points, and still other had flat tops. Every building was a mechanic white. They almost looked like giant, elegant computer hard drives, but that might be stretching it a bit. Towards the back of the city was the tallest building it looked the same as all the rest; tall, mechanic white, computer-ish looking. It looked important too. Like the head of government, or queen and King, or leader, whatever, would be located there.

It was also were the last two targets were.

Rico kept his map open for reference as they walked to the end of the city.

"Skippah, why does Sam hate you?" Private asked.

"He wants revenge," Skipper replied. "He's avenging Genty probably," he said as they continued to walk.

"ou would think he'd gotten over that by now though," Kowalski said. "I mean it's been years."

"Years of planning maybe," Skipper replied. "He's been planning this for years."

"How do you know?" Private asked.

Skipper looked over at Rico's map. They were still going the right way. "Look around you Private," he said. "Everything is perfect, everything is carefully planned out and ready for use whenever he needs it. Everything is so real. Things like this TAKE years to plan and put into action. Sam left himself no time to cool off. He left no room to let it go," Skipper explained. He believed that too.

"Oh… ok," Private replied. He didn't know what to say to that. They were closing in on the last two targets anyway.

Skipper signaled for them to stop, and continued walking. According to the map, the last two were right inside the door. Easy peasy. He pulled out a grenade and threw it inside the door. A second later it went off. He looked down at his armband. 0 to 4. They had one.

They all looked at each other. That was way too easy.

"Is that it?" Kowalski asked shocked.

"Yeah, for now," Skipper replied.

~~~~back at Sam's HQ~~~

"No, no, NO!" Sam shouted. "One of them was supposed to die! They weren't supposed to complete the round with such ease! AAAAAHHH! I'll kill them all in the next round!" he shouted in frustration. "Computer! Send them to Dagobah! Allies: 500. Enemies," he paused. "10000," he said slyly. He turned to the screen and watched them have their moments of peace and relief. He laughed. "Have you're moment of victory, you little good-for-nothing losers. Let's see you win the next round. Mwahahahahahahaha-aa!"

"Ready for transport to next round," the computer informed monotone. "DO you want to transport the competitors now?

Sam smiled evilly. "Yes, computer, send them now. Why wait?"

"As you wish," the computer responded. "Sending competitors to Dagobah…transportation complete."

Sam sat back in his chair. "Perfect."


End file.
